PENTECOST

Fred Coulter  -  May 19, 2002

This is the Feast of Pentecost, the year 2002.  Time just keeps rolling on it seems, and the feast days come up upon us real quickly, and especially this year because it seems as though with the year being earlier than it was last year, it just seems to come so much more quicker.   So anyway, I hope that you’re going to have a good Feast of Pentecost wherever you are, and today we’re going to cover the meaning of the Feast of Pentecost and to understand the things that we need to concerning it.

Now we know that God tells us to take up an offering on the holy days, so we take up offerings.  It says there in Deuteronomy 16, so let’s turn there.  And it says here, verse 16, “Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which He shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks [which then is the Feast of Pentecost], and in the feast of tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty: every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which He hath given thee” (Deut. 16:16-17).  So whenever you give any offering of any kind, you need to consider the blessings that God has given you.  Consider the spiritual blessings, consider the physical blessings, and also consider some of the trials that you have gone through and count those also as blessings, because God uses these to help develop your character, to help develop more of the mind of Christ, and to understand what God wants you to understand because we learn through the things that we go through.

And it’s very interesting, and in reading about the life of William Tyndale, and reading his writings, he says that God gives trials to those who are His best friends.  And he says consider what Christ went through.  And so, what I want you to do in considering you blessings, I want you to look at all of your blessings.  Just don’t look at the blessings that you consider that are good.  Because we have learned over a period of time that even those lessons of trials that come along, that when we are in the midst of a trial, it does not seem like it’s pleasant, but afterwards then, it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness.  And then afterwards it gives us the understanding that God wants us to have.  So consider that too when you consider according to the blessings that your Lord and your God has given you.

Now since Pentecost is a harvest feast, let’s come here to 2 Corinthians 9, and let’s see also, as we know - and these things we know, but you see what God has done with the feast days, and the reason that we have the feast days every year, and the Sabbath every week, is because as human beings if we don’t go over these things and learn them, and add to them every year, and come before God, and come before His presence on the day that He says to be there, which is His appointed time, then the lesson is this: spiritual things do not stay in a physical mind.  You have to have the Spirit of God, and you have to have it renewed, and you have to have it stirred up, and it has to be constantly fed so that you grow in grace, you grow in knowledge, you grow in the mind of Christ.  So to go over these scriptures, even some of them that we cover every year, then it’s important for us to realize the true and inspired meaning of what we have according to the scriptures.

Now let’s come to 2 Corinthians 9:6.  “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly;…”  And that is an absolute truism.  And that is something you need to consider.  And you need to consider some of the things that you do are sowing for blessings, and for reaping of the things that God has for you, and to understand that if you are a curmudgeon with God, then God will be a curmudgeon to you, because God will judge everyone of us according to our attitude toward Him.  And so that’s why Paul wrote this.  Where on the other hand, “…and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.”  And this is very important to understand in relationship to the talents that God gives us.

Now I’ll just call your mind to the ones who were given the five talents, the two talents, and the one talent.  When it was all said and done, the one who had the five increased to five.  The one who had the two increased to two.  The one who had one went and hid it because he was a curmudgeon, and he was lazy, and he didn’t want to apply himself, and he didn’t want to ask for God’s blessing, and he was critical and accused God of being a harsh taskmaster, which when you accuse God of being that, He definitely is going to be.

Now, the one who had the one talent then, that was taken from him, and he was cast into the lake of fire, and the one talent was given to the one who had ten.  And every one said, “Well, Lord, he has ten.”  Well, God gave it to him because he wants it to increase and produce.  And so the one who increased and produced the more, it was given to him.  So that’s why it says, “…he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.”

“Every man according as he purposeth in his heart,..”  So you see, though God commands it, God desires your free will in it.  And God also desires that you purpose to do so.  Not something that’s kind of a last minute thing that’s thrown together at the last second.  “…So let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”  And notice this.  Here’s a promise.  Now you tie this in with Malachi 3 about the blessings that God will give you.  “And God is able [that means God has the power] to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:” (vs. 7-8).  So the final analysis of all of this is kind of like a sphere.  It all fits together.  And it’s all part of what God wants.  And it’s all part of the character that we develop as firstfruits to God.  And so this is really a tremendously important thing to understand, especially when we are living in the land of plenty, and the home of the free and the brave, and while we still have time to work, to work, because we need to understand the darkness is coming and no man will be able to work, as Christ said.  So we need to understand that and realize it.  So at this time we’ll go ahead and take a pause and take up the offering.

(Pause)

Now then yesterday we thoroughly went through and saw how to count to Pentecost, so I’m not going to go back over it again, except to say that number eight is always associated with the resurrection.  We know with the Feast of Tabernacles that we have seven days, and then the eighth day.  And that eighth day pictures the second resurrection, which then is for the resurrection of all of those who never had an opportunity for salvation, who have not committed the unpardonable sin.

Now also we saw, as I mentioned during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Jesus was selected as the Lamb of God on the 10^th of Nisan, and He was raised from the dead on the 17^th, which then inclusive counting is eight days.  From Sabbath to Sabbath inclusive counting is always eight days.  So again, number eight is associated with the resurrection.  When we come to Pentecost we count seven weeks plus one day, which is the 50^th day.  And that 50^th day then, is the eighth day of the seventh week.  So again we will see that this applies.

Now let’s understand something concerning that this is a holy convocation.  Let’s come to Leviticus 23:15 and let’s see all of God’s instruction for that.  “And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath [and that means beginning with the morrow after the Sabbath], from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete: even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath [that is the day after the seventh Sabbath] shall ye number fifty days;…” (Lev. 23:15-16).  And how on earth anyone can get 51 out of that is an amazing thing to me.  But you know, there are some people who just cling to the idolatry of their pet doctrine, that they are unwilling to yield to the word of God.

Let’s continue now.  “…And ye shall offer a new meat offering [meal offering, as it should read]…” (vs. 16).  And this offering then is from the wheat, whereas the wave sheaf offering was from the barley, which first ripens in the spring.  Now we’re getting later in the spring and close toward summer, not quite the summer, and now is the beginning of the wheat harvest, as we’ll see in just a bit.  And what you’re to do with this…here is the new meal offering, or the offering made from flour.  Now it says meat in the King James, and that is a very misleading term.

Verse 17, “Ye shall bring out of your habitations…”  Now everyone was to do this who came to the temple.  Or, I don’t know if they did this in the synagogues where they were, but at least all of those who went to the temple did.  “…Two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour;…”  Now it’s interesting how God gives specific instructions.  “…They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the LORD.”  Now this is unusual, especially coming from the Feast of Unleavened Bread, because the Feast of Unleavened Bread says you shall not have any leaven seen with you all during the days of Unleavened Bread.  Now here He specifically says, “Well, what I want you to do is to make it out of leaven.”  And there’s a special reason for it.  The only other offering that had leaven to it for the meal offering was the peace offering, which accompanied the offering of the sacrifice of the animals.

Now notice, they are firstfruits unto the LORD.  In other words they are accepted, you see, as firstfruits unto the LORD.  Now we come back up here to verse 10 and it talks about Jesus Christ, Who is the first of the firstfruits, the premiere wave sheaf, or the wave sheaf offering.  And from Christ being resurrected and accepted by God the Father, down to the first resurrection, which is called a harvest, we are going to see that it is one continuous thing.  There is no interruption between it.  And all the days are accounted, all the of weeks are counted, and then we come down to the 50^th day.  And we are going to see then why the first resurrection cannot be on Trumpets.

And I’ll just state right here, the number one prime reason that it cannot be on Trumpets is because number one, Trumpets is not a harvest feast.  And that’s what’s important to understand.  Now I realize that in the past that was taught.  And I realize that it was a mistake made because of two things.  Number one, we didn’t keep Pentecost on the right day.  We kept it on a Monday instead of on the first day of the week as the Bible properly shows how we need to count.  And number two, because it was a concordance study where Trumpets is.  Here’s a trumpet, there’s another trumpet, there’s another trumpet like the seven trumpets in the book of Revelation.  And so obviously then the resurrection, because there is the trumpet sound associated with the resurrection, then it has to be on the Feast of Trumpets.  But you see, the Feast of Trumpets is discounted because there is a break after Pentecost until you get to Trumpets, which that break is not there between the Wave Sheaf Offering Day, which begins the count to Pentecost, and Pentecost.  So those 50 days are tied together, and we’ll see the symbolic meaning of that.

Then it tells all about the animal offerings they were to bring, and the sin offerings that they were to bring.  Now verse 21.  “And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.”  So then he gives something else here.  “And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God” (vs. 21-22).  Showing here, that not only are we to be generous to God, but we are not to be curmudgeons toward others, and this verse here really is a verse of love toward your neighbor, and love toward the stranger, and love toward the one who is poor.  That you leave something for them.  And they are not going for a handout.  They have right to come into the field and to glean the corners, and to harvest the things that were there, and God gave that to them so that they always had the dignity that they had to do something to get it, and they didn’t have to go beg, and they didn’t have to go on welfare.

Now let’s come to the book of Exodus 22:29, and let’s see how God talks about the firstfruits, and talks about the offering that we are to bring.  And after all, we need to understand this, as we will see we are firstfruits, and God want’s the firstfruit harvest on time.  And it belongs to Him.  So therefore we find the principle here in Exodus 22:29.  “Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto Me.  Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thine sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it Me.” (Ex. 22:29-30).  That is the firstborn.  So we find the firstborn and firstfruits always interrelated in the things that we find in God’s commandments here.

Now the firstfruits are very important to God.  Let’s come to chapter 34.  Let’s see this again, where after the children of Israel rebelled and built themselves the golden calves and had their orgy, worshipping the golden calves, then God regives the law, rewrites the ten commandments, and here are part of His instructions again.  So what you find is this.  You find the same instructions at one time.  You find the same instructions at another time.  And you come to the book of Deuteronomy and you find the same or very similar instructions at that time, which tells us then that God intends us to keep the holy days.  That these things are important for us to know and understand and realize, and they’re important to God.  And being important to God then, there are things from which we can learn spiritual lessons.

Now Exodus 34:22, “And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest,…”  So we begin with the barley harvest.  And then down through the seven weeks that barley harvest is completed.  And then by the time we come to the Feast of Pentecost, then the wheat harvest is beginning.  So when we have those two tenth deals made into loaves, then we are talking about wheat.  And the leaven, we will see, has a special meaning.

Now let’s continue on.  Let’s come to Proverbs 3.  While we are going to Proverbs 3, let me mention this.  Remember what we covered yesterday concerning the battle of Jericho, and the fall of the walls, and everything that was involved with that?  Well, remember what God said, and this has relationship also to the fact that it is holy, even though it was contaminated and polluted by pagan hands of the Canaanites.  We saw that it’s not possible that for grain that was planted by a Canaanite could pollute the grain which grew, because the grain that is planted is not the grain that is harvested.  So there is no way that can be contaminated.  And God gave them the harvest, so it was their harvest.  And God said, “When you come into the land and harvest it’s harvest, rather than one that you plant by hand…”, after that first harvest, which the Canaanites planted for them, they harvested their own.

Now then, remember the instruction that God gave to Joshua, that all of the gold and the silver in Jericho was holy to Him.  And what happened was this, you go back and read the account.  Achan decided he would take some for himself.  And what happened?  He caused all of Israel then in the next battle, to be defeated.  And Joshua came moaning and groaning to God.  And God said, “Why are you moaning and groaning to Me?  You search out who took that which I said was holy.”  Because if it’s holy to Him then it’s His.  And so then they went through the Urim and Thummim and found out that it was Achan and his family.  And what did God do with them.  They were history.

Now let’s come here to Proverbs 3:5.  This is very important.  This is again, an overall principle, and let’s apply this to everything we’re learning on Pentecost.  “Trust in the  LORD with all thine heart;…”  Now that’s the whole key of everything that we do.  And if you do that, that means that you’re going to love God, that you’re going to love Jesus Christ, you’re going to love the brethren, you’re going to love your neighbor as yourself, and you’re going to do the things that God wants you to do.   And if you “…lean not unto thine own understanding”, as it says, therefore then God will lead you.  God will bless you.  God will guide you.  “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths” (Prov. 3:5-6).  Now you tie that in with Colossians 3, which says do everything, whether in word or in deed, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  That’s acknowledging God in all your ways.

“Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.  It shall be health to thy navel, and morrow to thy bones.  Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine” (vs. 7-8).  And so there again, that is to be a blessing in the physical sense.

Now then, let’s apply this to the church, which is the church of the firstborn, or the firstfruits of God.  And we are going to be this to the whole world after the resurrection and the kingdom of God being on the earth.  We then are going to be the firstfruits which will help the whole world increase and improve and have the knowledge of God.  So that makes it very profound and important for us to understand.

Now let’s understand something her concerning the feasts of God, that Pentecost is a harvest feast.  Now first of all we read all the instructions there concerning Pentecost, but then, let’s take a quick look back at Leviticus 23, for just a minute please.  Let’s go back there and let’s look at the Feast of Trumpets for just a minute.  Let’s see the command, you see.   Leviticus 23:24, “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets [not a single trumpet, but many], an holy convocation.”  Now it says nothing about “in remembrance of” any harvest.  But what this is, this shows us that it is a feast of war when Christ returns to put down all rule.  That’s important for us to understand.  And that’s a great distinction.  But here’s where the confusion comes.

Let’s come to Numbers 10 and let’s understand something which many people do not really realize.  Numbers 10, and it talks about the blowing of the trumpet, making of the trumpets, two trumpets of silver.  And they were to be for the calling of assembly, for the journey, for the assembling of the princes, and God gives them the signals and how many times they would blow.  Also for spies, for the alarm of war, and blow the alarm the second time.  Then it tells when the camps are to move, when all of Israel is to be gathered together.  The sons of Israel shall blow them throughout their generations.  And if you go to war then you are to take them and blow them, and to have them go before the ark.

Verse 9, now that’s what they did in Jericho.  “And if you go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your  enemies.”  Now remember the account of Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas.  They went out to battle against the Philistines.  Now because they were corrupt, and they were sinful, God was not giving them the victory in the battle.  So they said, “We know what we’re going to do.  We’re going to go back and bring the Ark of God, and God is going to have to fight the battle and win the battle for us because His ark is here.”  So what happened?  They both died.  The Philistines took the Ark of God, and they had it for seven months.  And woe be unto them, they had it.  Remember what happened to them.   And then the news came back and told Eli, and he was so stunned at what happened, that the ark had been taken and the battle had been lost, that he fell over backwards and died.  So true to the prophecy that God gave to Eli, all three of them died the same day.

Now let’s continue on here and let’s see how was the trumpet is to be used besides war.  Verse 10, “Also in the day of your gladness [that is, when you have a special celebration to thank God], and in your solemn days [meaning all the holy days and on the Sabbath], and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offering; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God.”  So you see, there is a specific reason why the trumpet is blown.  But remember, it’s blown on the Sabbath, it’s blown over every offering, it’s blown on the first day of Unleavened Bread, the last day of Unleavened Bread.  It’s blown on Pentecost.  Then on the Feast of Trumpets the trumpets is blown with many, many trumpets as a memorial of it, all day long.  Then it is blown again on the Day of Atonement.  It is blown again on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, and again on the eighth day or the Last Great Day of the Feast of Tabernacles, as well as going down through all the months.  So that’s why we need to understand that also on Pentecost a trumpet is sounded.  And we will see the relationship of that concerning the first resurrection a little bit later when we get into the New Testament.

Now let’s go ahead and let’s go to the New Testament, and I’m going to read out of the coming new translation.  Let’s come to John 4, and let’s understand something really important concerning the time coming up to the Feast of Pentecost.  Now remember, Jesus came up to the temple and suddenly appeared, according to the prophecy of Malachi 3.  We find that recorded in John 2, where He cleansed the temple, stayed there for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, did many miracles.  Then He did the conversation with Nicodemus concerning being born again.  Then He came on down, chapter 4, to Samaria and stopped at the well at Samaria, talked to the woman, told her about eternal life.  And then the disciples came back and they wondered who gave Him anything to eat.

 So let’s pick it up here.  They brought something back for Him to eat, verse 31.  “And in the mean while the disciples were asking Him, saying, Rabbi, eat. And He said to them, I have meat to eat that you are not aware of.  Therefore His disciples said to one another, Did anyone bring Him something to eat?  And Jesus said to them, My meat is to do the will of Him Who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:31-34, AT).  Now there is a big goal for all of us.  That needs to be our goal.  That needs to be our whole purpose in life.  Why we eat, why we breathe, why we do what we do, and that’s what Christ was saying here.

Now notice what He said in verse 35.  Very important thing.  “Say not yet, that there are four months and then the harvest comes…”  Now this has to be just right around the time of the Feast of Pentecost.  So He, in the four months, then He is referring to the harvest as pictured by the Feast of Tabernacles.  All of the things that are harvested in the fall.  He’s saying, “Don’t say that there are yet four months to the harvest.”  “…I say to you, Look around, lift up your eyes, and see the fields;…”  Now what are you going to see?  You are going to see the fields of wheat, which are ready to be harvested for Pentecost.  “…For they are already ripe to the harvest.”  Now you see, this again is showing how Pentecost is involved in harvesting.  And no other feast is involved in that.  And we will see from the New Testament how that the church is the harvest.  We’ll see that whole parable here in just a little bit.

Now verse 36, “The one who reaps receives a reward, and gathers fruit unto eternal life, so that the one who is sowing and the one who is reaping may both rejoice together.”  Now the way they rejoice then, is they are resurrected together.  “For in this, the saying is true that one sows and another reaps.  I sent you to reap in that which you have not labored.  Others have labored and you have entered into their labor” (vs. 36-38, AT).  By how’s that?  By the law, by the prophets, by the Psalms, by John the Baptist preparing the way, and the work that God was doing in the land of Judea and Galilee to prepare the way for Christ.  And it was all ready for them.  That’s why they had to go out and preach the kingdom of God is at hand.  And then we will see on the Day of Pentecost, God gave the Holy Spirit to give them the power to do that, and to accomplish what God wanted them to do.

Now let’s continue on and let’s come here to Matthew 13.  And here we’re going to see that the whole work of Christ leading to the resurrection, is likened unto a harvest.  And that the harvest then, is that which once the seed is planted, then we are responsible for how it grows.  And of course one thing that is important, once we receive the Holy Spirit as a begettal from God the Father, His seed remains in us, and we are to grow in grace and knowledge, and we are to prepare for he harvest that God is going to do, which will be the harvest of the firstfruits.  And we’re going to see we are called the church of the firstborn, and we are firstfruits unto God.  So that’s important for us to realize.

Now let’s come here to Matthew 13, just explaining the parable, and let’s understand what Jesus is telling us.  Let’s start in verse 10 because this is important to realize.  You see, one of the things we need to do, and why we have Pentecost is so that we always focus on the goal of attaining the resurrection of the dead.  And this is such a tremendous and important thing.  And to receive the begettal of eternal life, which is pictured by the receiving of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.  Now then, with that God also does something that He does not give to the rest of the world, and He wants us to realize that He has given us heavenly knowledge, spiritual knowledge, which other people cannot receive because they don’t have the Spirit of God.  Neither can they understand because they are so busy with their own things.  And this is why, then, when we come to the book of Revelation and it gives the account there of the Laodiceans, you see, they have clouded the vision that God has given them here.  And they do not count as much as they should, how great the blessing is, and hold it in high esteem to be called to the first resurrection.  That’s why they are naked and poor and blind.

Now let’s pick it up in verse 10.  “The disciples came to Him and asked, Why do You speak to them in parables?  And He answered and said to them, Because it’s given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” So you have special knowledge that other people in the world do not have.  You have special understanding that God has given through the power of the Holy Spirit.  “For whosoever has understanding, to him shall be given…”  So God is going to give you more.  “…And he shall have abundance.  But whosoever does not have understanding, even that which he has shall be taken away” (Matt. 13:10-12, AT).

Now let’s just stop here for just a second and understand that that is exactly what is happening to Protestantism today.  We have seen that is exactly what happened to Judaism because they rejected Christ, and so when we go down through the whole history of the world we see that this is a living principle, and it’s going to be taken or it’s going to be given because Christ is the one Who gives and takes.

Now He says, “For this reason I speak to them in parables, because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says, In hearing you shall hear, and in no way understand; and in seeing you shall see, and in no way perceive.  For the heart of this people is grown fat, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and should understand with their heart and should be converted and I should heal them” (vs. 13-15).  Now that’s why God is not calling everyone.  That’s why God the Father has to intervene and draw those that He calls, grant them repentance, lead them to the acceptance of Christ as the sacrifice for their sins, and baptism and laying on of hands, and the Holy Spirit.  God knows what He’s doing.

He has given the world over to blindness.  He has given them over to their own ways.  That’s why He doesn’t want us going back into the world.  Because you see, you go back into the world and you walk back into the darkness, and you walk back into the blindness, and that’s the problem with the Laodiceans.  They have one foot in the world, and they have one foot in the church.  They have enough religion that they are acceptable to the world, and enough religion that if trouble comes that they feel they can run to God.  But you see, we need to understand the words of God.  Now we’ve seen this happen too, in our lifetime, haven’t we?  Yes, we have.  And the things that destroyed the Worldwide Church of God was internal corruption - lying, cheating, stealing.  False doctrine then, was the penalty that came upon them, and they closed their eyes, and they closed their ears to the word of God, and opened them to false doctrines and became a part of the world.

Now, they will receive what will come upon them.  Verse 16, “But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.  For truly I say to you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see what you see…”  And as we saw recently concerning the book of Daniel, and the prophecies in Daniel, he didn’t know.  “…And have not seen, and to hear what you hear, and have not heard” (vs. 16-17).  Imagine, imagine what it would be if you could hear Jesus Christ in person.  Not just read the words which have been inspired to be preserved for us for the word of God to lead us to salvation.  But you could hear Christ in person.  What a fantastic thing.  You’d say, “What a fantastic thing that would be.”  Well, all the population there heard Him.  Healed thousands and thousands, and all of those things, and how many did they end up with on the Day of Pentecost?  One hundred twenty.  So it’s quite a thing, isn’t it, you see?  So God holds it.  Once you receive the word, you’re going to be responsible, even though there are outside influences that come along to affect you.  And let’s look at those influences that affect people, and where then, they make the wrong choices.

“Therefore hear the parable of the sower.”  Now you see, we’re talking about seed, we’re talking about sowing, and we’re going to see it talks about a harvest, in a little bit.  “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it the wicked one comes and snatches away that which was sown in his heart.  This is he who was sown by the way.”  So, Satan the devil is able to come along and take away from you, and if you yield to him he’ll just suck it all out like a leach.  Verse 20, “Now the one who was sown upon the rocky places is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.”  Now I remember a man that worked for me as a loan officer, and he thought, “Oh, this is great.  This is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me.  Boy, this is marvelous.”  Well, he fulfilled verse 21.  “Because he has not root in himself, he does not endure.  For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, he is quickly offended.  And the one who is sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, and the cares of this life, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and it becomes unfruitful.  But the one who is sown on the good ground, this is the one who hears the word and understands, and who indeed brings forth fruit…” (vs. 18-23).    And that’s what God wants us to do.

Every Feast of Pentecost we are reminded that God has planted in us that which He wants to grow and to be harvested as the fruit of God.  The firstfruits of God in being in the church of the firstborn, as we will see, but God wants to come and reap a harvest from you.  And what will your harvest be?  And how will your harvest be?  Will it be with joy?  Will it be with happiness?  Will it be with abundance?  Or will it be like the one who had the one talent and went and hid it?  Those are all the choices that God gives us.  And that’s why, in order to produce the fruit, this is the one who hears and produces fruit one hundred-fold, another sixty-fold, and another thirty-fold.   And so we need to ask the question: how much are we producing?

Now let’s also put another factor into this equation.  Many times when trials are upon us and we draw close to God, that’s when we develop the most spiritual character, which is fine.  That’s absolutely true and needed, and there is nothing wrong with that.  And that will also produce fruit.  But let’s understand something else: that when you have things planted in the ground, and it’s bringing forth abundantly because there is peace, because there is time, because there is water, because there is fertilizer, because there is sunshine, because there is rain…and remember, God sends the former rain and the later rain, you see.  And we are the rain that the Holy Spirit brings upon us that we will bring forth the fruit and produce.

So in these times of peace, and I feel it more and more, brethren as we go along.  And I feel a sense of urgency that I have not felt ever before, that God wants us to really get serious about what He wants us to do, to really produce the fruit, to stay close to Him in prayer and study, and know the word of God and produce the character that God wants, because the day is coming when the night is going to fall.  And when it slams down with the new dark age, and all the hell that comes with it, there are going to be many running to and fro and wondering, “What are we going to do?”  There are going to be many who are going to be like the foolish virgins who did not do the will of God, who did not prepare themselves, who did not take oil in their lamps, who did not serve God with a pure heart, who did not get out and strive to produce and to increase and to bring forth fruit.  Because after all, you see, you belong to God, and you are His, and whatever fruit you produce is what He does in and through you.  And that’s why it’s so important that we understand the meaning of the Day of Pentecost and how it relates to the first resurrection.